dired and `ls' flags

dired and `ls' flags

[Harry Putnam]

I've pounded away in the dired section of the manual but haven't
uncovered the technique required to change what the buffer looks like.
I guess its some way of telling emacs to use different `ls' flags.

If user wants to change the display of a directory to something more
like `ls' (no `-l' (no long list))
How is that done?

Re: dired and `ls' flags

[Erik Iverson]

Harry Putnam wrote:
> I've pounded away in the dired section of the manual but haven't
> uncovered the technique required to change what the buffer looks like.
> I guess its some way of telling emacs to use different `ls' flags.
> 
> If user wants to change the display of a directory to something more
> like `ls' (no `-l' (no long list))
> How is that done?
> 
> 

dired-listing-switches is a variable defined in `dired.el'.
Its value is "-al"

Documentation:
Switches passed to `ls' for Dired.  MUST contain the `l' option.
May contain all other options that don't contradict `-l';
may contain even `F', `b', `i' and `s'.  See also the variable
`dired-ls-F-marks-symlinks' concerning the `F' switch.
On systems such as MS-DOS and MS-Windows, which use `ls' emulation in Lisp,
some of the `ls' switches are not supported; see the doc string of
`insert-directory' in `ls-lisp.el' for more details.


However, see:
http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/DiredDetails
for a possibility.

Re: dired and `ls' flags

[Harry Putnam]

Erik Iverson <eriki@ccbr.umn.edu> writes:

> However, see:
> http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/DiredDetails
> for a possibility.

OK, thanks... dired-details.el worked right out of the box.  
I tried Drews' dired-details+.el but it appeared as if after 
M-x load-library <ret> dired-details+ <ret>, that although the
trailing info indicated it had been loaded.... no commands were
available. 

However I then tried dired-details.el (no +sign) and no have the
commands available to hide or show the listing details.

Thanks.

Re: dired and `ls' flags

[Harry Putnam]

Harry Putnam <reader@newsguy.com> writes:

> Erik Iverson <eriki@ccbr.umn.edu> writes:
>
>> However, see:
>> http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/DiredDetails
>> for a possibility.
>
> OK, thanks... dired-details.el worked right out of the box.  
> I tried Drews' dired-details+.el but it appeared as if after 
> M-x load-library <ret> dired-details+ <ret>, that although the
> trailing info indicated it had been loaded.... no commands were
> available. 
>
> However I then tried dired-details.el (no +sign) and no have the
> commands available to hide or show the listing details.

Whoops... I jumped the gun about dired-details+ not working...  I
works fine (Sorry Drew).  I just hadn't realized dired-details (no
plus) needed to be loaded too.  That is, they appear to work together.

The wiki didn't make that clear... at least not to me.

RE: dired and `ls' flags

[Drew Adams]

> > OK, thanks... dired-details.el worked right out of the box.  
> > I tried Drews' dired-details+.el but it appeared as if after 
> > M-x load-library <ret> dired-details+ <ret>, that although the
> > trailing info indicated it had been loaded.... no commands were
> > available. 
> >
> > However I then tried dired-details.el (no +sign) and no have the
> > commands available to hide or show the listing details.
> 
> Whoops... I jumped the gun about dired-details+ not working...  I
> works fine (Sorry Drew).  I just hadn't realized dired-details (no
> plus) needed to be loaded too.  That is, they appear to work 
> together.

Loading dired-details+.el loads dired-details.el automatically.

> The wiki didn't make that clear... at least not to me.

Hm. Which part of this sentence from the wiki wasn't clear to you? ;-)

 "This [dired-details+.el] loads dired-details.el
 and activates show/hide, so dired-details+.el is all
 you ever need to load."

Re: dired and `ls' flags

[Harry Putnam]

"Drew Adams" <drew.adams@oracle.com> writes:

>> > OK, thanks... dired-details.el worked right out of the box.  
>> > I tried Drews' dired-details+.el but it appeared as if after 
>> > M-x load-library <ret> dired-details+ <ret>, that although the
>> > trailing info indicated it had been loaded.... no commands were
>> > available. 
>> >
>> > However I then tried dired-details.el (no +sign) and no have the
>> > commands available to hide or show the listing details.
>> 
>> Whoops... I jumped the gun about dired-details+ not working...  I
>> works fine (Sorry Drew).  I just hadn't realized dired-details (no
>> plus) needed to be loaded too.  That is, they appear to work 
>> together.
>
> Loading dired-details+.el loads dired-details.el automatically.
>
>> The wiki didn't make that clear... at least not to me.
>
> Hm. Which part of this sentence from the wiki wasn't clear to you? ;-)
>
>  "This [dired-details+.el] loads dired-details.el
>  and activates show/hide, so dired-details+.el is all
>  you ever need to load."

Gack... good point.

I'll confess to only scanning the page... I got far enough to see that
there was an enhanced version and went to it without further ado.

And please note that in saying the wiki didn't make it clear. There
was no disparagement intended.  That's why I did include the
proviso... `at least not to me'.

I did thank Erik and I should have thanked the wiki authors... then
too, but will do so now.

Thanks to wiki builders... very helpful.
And thanks to Drew in particular

I find both the details and details+ to be very useful when I have to
use emacs on windows.... somehow the default setup has never bothered
me on unix/linux... probably something to do with system fonts causing
the windows view to be too wide for the size windows I prefer.

RE: dired and `ls' flags

[Drew Adams]

> > I've pounded away in the dired section of the manual
> > but haven't uncovered the technique

Hm...

> > required to change what the buffer looks like.
> > I guess its some way of telling emacs to use different
> > `ls' flags....  How is that done?
> 
> dired-listing-switches is a variable defined in `dired.el'.
> Its value is "-al"

And that option is explained front-and-center in the Dired section of the manual
- see the first node, `Dired Enter'.

That same node also mentions that using a prefix arg with command `dired'
prompts you for the `'ls' switches to use:

 "If you use a numeric prefix argument with the `dired' command,
  you can specify the `ls' switches with the minibuffer before
  you enter the directory specification."

And if you check the command's doc string: `C-h k C-x d' (or `C-h f dired'), you
see the same thing explained:

 "Optional second argument SWITCHES specifies the `ls'
  options used.  (Interactively, use a prefix argument to be
  able to specify SWITCHES.)"

RE: dired and `ls' flags

[Drew Adams]

> That same node also mentions that using a prefix arg with 
> command `dired' prompts you for the `'ls' switches to use:
> 
>  "If you use a numeric prefix argument with the `dired' command,
                 ^^^^^^^
>   you can specify the `ls' switches with the minibuffer before
>   you enter the directory specification."

However, thank you for drawing my attention to this passage.  It incorrectly
qualifies the prefix arg as needing to be "numeric".  Any prefix arg, not just a
numeric one, causes `dired' to prompt you for the `ls' switches.  I've filed an
Emacs bug (#6982).  (This doc bug is at least as old as Emacs 20.)

Re: dired and `ls' flags

[Harry Putnam]

"Drew Adams" <drew.adams@oracle.com> writes:

> And that option is explained front-and-center in the Dired section of the manual
> - see the first node, `Dired Enter'.
>
> That same node also mentions that using a prefix arg with command `dired'
> prompts you for the `'ls' switches to use:
>
>  "If you use a numeric prefix argument with the `dired' command,
>   you can specify the `ls' switches with the minibuffer before
>   you enter the directory specification."

Ahaaa... now that is a useful bit of knowledge... quite handy and
needs no extra lisp files.